As is known in the art, the market for robotics is projected to grow rapidly. One factor that may influence increased penetration of robots is the scale-up of robot programming complexity. To improve dexterity and versatility, robots may be given increased degrees of freedom. The challenge of programming increases exponentially with the number of degrees of freedom. Cooperation among multiple end-effectors, arms, and/or multiple robots may increase robot capability, but at the cost of increased programming complexity.
Another factor that may influence increased penetration of robots is human-robot compatibility, for example the ability of robots to share workspace safely with humans. Robots that can be replaced seamlessly by human workers enable robust production lines, reducing sensitivity to robot failure. Physical human-robot collaboration may take advantage of the talents of both, e.g. robot precision combined with human adaptability.
As is also known in the art, impedance control is an approach to the control of dynamic interaction between a mechanism and its environment. Impedance control regulates the relationship between force and motion of the mechanism. An impedance controller may impose a spring-mass-damper behavior on the mechanism by maintaining a dynamic relationship between force and position, velocity and acceleration.